USC garners 18 of 29 first-place votes in the poll, but CALIFORNIA, OREGON and ARIZONA STATE also receive first-place support.

USC Head Coach Pete Carroll

July 27, 2006

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Three-time defending Pac-10 champion USC has been picked to win the 2006 Pacific-10 Conference football title in a preseason poll of West Coast media members who regularly cover the league. It marks the fourth consecutive year the Trojans have been the choice to win the title, but it differs from the last two years when USC was a unanimous pick to win the title. USC garnered 18 of 29 first-place votes in the poll, but CALIFORNIA, OREGON and ARIZONA STATE also received first-place support. USC has won the last three Pac-10 titles and has two National Championships and a national runner-up finish in the last three years. The Trojans fashioned a 12-1 mark last season, with the only loss coming in a classic battle against Texas in the BCS National Championship Game at the Rose Bowl. The media poll has correctly selected the Conference Champion in 23 of 45 previous polls, including the last six years in a row. Following are the results of the preseason media poll (points 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, first-place votes in parentheses):

1.

USC (18)

276

2.

California (7)

247

3.

Oregon (3)

229

4.

Arizona State (1)

204

5.

UCLA

145

6.

Arizona

133

7.

Oregon State

125

8.

Washington State

96

9.

Stanford

90

10.

Washington

50

POLL NOTES: Preseason media poll has correctly picked the Conference champion 23 of 45 times and has been very accurate of late in correctly identifying the Conference champ the last six years in a row and six of the last seven. . . . While USC was a unanimous pick to win the Pac-10 the last two seasons, this year's poll with four team registering first-place votes is more typical. Prior to the last two years of unanimous support for the Trojans, at least four team received first-place votes in four of the previous five years. . . . USC topping the media poll for four straight years is the most for one institution since WASHINGTON was picked four straight years from 1990-93. The Huskies won the crown in three of those four years. . . . The rebuilding work of coach Mike Stoops at ARIZONA is being noted. Despite finishing no higher than eighth in the Conference standings the last five years, the media panel placed the Wildcats sixth in the poll. That is the highest UA has been picked in the poll since 1999, when the Cats were actually picked to win the league title coming off a 12-1 season in 1998.

PRESEASON PAC-10 FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL

Year

Media Poll Pick

Actual Finish

Rose Bowl/BCS Representative

Predicted Finish

1961

UCLA

1st

UCLA

1st

1962

Washington

2nd

USC

2nd

1963

USC

2nd

Washington

2nd

1964

Washington

3rd

Oregon State

6th

1965

USC

2nd

UCLA

7th

1966

USC

1st

USC

1st

1967

USC

1st

USC

1st

1968

USC

1st

USC

1st

1969

USC

1st

USC

1st

1970

USC

6th

Stanford

2nd

1971

USC

2nd

Stanford

2nd

1972

USC

1st

USC

1st

1973

USC

1st

USC

1st

1974

USC

1st

USC

1st

1975

USC

5th

UCLA

3rd

1976

USC

1st

USC

1st

1977

USC

2nd

Washington

3rd

1978

USC

1st

USC

1st

1979

USC

1st

USC

1st

1980

USC

3rd

Washington

3rd

1981

USC

2nd

Washington

4th

1982

USC

3rd

UCLA

3rd

1983

Arizona

5th

UCLA

5th

1984

UCLA

3rd

USC

3rd

1985

USC

4th

UCLA

5th

1986

UCLA

2nd

Arizona State

4th

1987

UCLA

2nd

USC

4th

1988

UCLA

2nd

USC

2nd

1989

USC

1st

USC

1st

1990

Washington

1st

Washington

1st

1991

Washington

1st

Washington

1st

1992

Washington

1st

Washington

1st

1993

Washington

4th

UCLA

6th

1994

Arizona

2nd

Oregon

8th

1995

USC

1st

USC

1st

1996

USC

5th

Arizona State

2nd

1997

Washington

4th

Washington State

7th

1998

UCLA

1st

UCLA

1st

1999

Arizona

6th

Stanford

8th

2000

Washington

1st

Washington

1st

2001

Oregon

1st

Oregon

1st

2002

Washington St.

1st

Washington State

1st

2003

USC

1st

USC

1st

2004

USC

1st

USC

1st

2005

USC

1st

USC

1st

2006

USC

Media Poll has correctly selected the Conference Champion 23 of 45 times, including the last six years in a row.